The present invention relates to a composite board suitable for use as a container flooring material.
Container shipping revolutionized the shipping industry in the 1950's. A container body could be moved from a tractor-trailer and placed it fully-loaded on a ship, a railroad car, or even an airplane. Ocean shipping in this manner saves the tedious, expensive, and time-consuming job of unloading cargo from a truck or a railroad car, loading it into the hull of a ship and reversing the process at the ship's destination. A standard container can carry up to 20 tons (U.S.) fully loaded. It can keep shipments together, protect them from the elements, from damage in handling, and from theft. An estimated 90 percent of the world's trade today moves in containers.
The floorboard of the container is the main structural component to carry the cargo loading. Container flooring must meet high requirements for mechanical performance, impact resistance, and durability. For many years, the container industry has relied on high-density hardwood species from the tropical forest to produce the multiple-layer thick plywood as container floorboards. However, tropical high-density hardwood species such as Apitong and Keruing face increasing demand while having very long growth cycles. As a result, tropical hardwood forests are rapidly diminishing.
To protect the natural environment and decrease the consumption of tropical hardwood, it would be desirable to develop a new type of container flooring with a more environmentally-friendly species to expand the floorboard supply and meet the increasing demand of the container industry.